Method of and apparatus for wrapping layered composite thermal insulation

ABSTRACT

Method and apparatus for applying thermal insulation to a vessel having a cylindrical side wall and rounded end walls by rotating the vessel about its end-to-end axis and orbiting a shuttle to apply strips of composite material, formed of a layer of thermally conductive material and a layer of radiation-reflective material, to the vessel to cover the rounded end walls, while the rotation of the vessel applies a wide second bond of similar composite material to the cylindrical wall of the vessel.

United States Patent 1191 Barthel [54] METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR WRAPPING LAYERED COMPOSITE 1 THERMAL INSULATION [75] Inventor: Alfred Barthel, Indianapolis, Ind.

[73] Assignee: Union Carbide Corporation, New

1 York, NY.

[22] Filed: April 1, 1966 [21] Appl. No.: 545,517

Related U.S. Application Data [63] Continuation-impart of Ser. No. 338,526, Jan. 4,

1964, abandoned.

s2 U.S. c1. ..242/3,-156/186-,l56l445 51 Int.Cl. ..B65h8l/00 5s FieldotSearch ..242/2,3,7,11,67.2;220/3,

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,069,539 2/1937 Roberts ..242/1l 1 51 Jan. 2,1973

2,518,967 8/1950 Witt ..242/2 X 3,018,016 1/1962 Hnilicka,,.lr.. ..220/10 3,112,234 11/1963 Krupp ..242/2 X 3,133,659 5/1964 Dobell et al.. ..220/3 3,199,715 8/1965 Paivanas ..220/9 D 3,276,936 10/1966 Uhlig et al. ..242/2 X 3,333,778 8/1967 Levenetz et a1. ..242/3 2,987,100 6/1961 Strickland et al. ..242/7.2l

Primary Examiner-Billy S. Taylor Attorney-Paul A. Rose, Thomas I. OBrien, John C. Le Fever and Leo A. Plum [57] ABSTRACT Method and apparatus for applying thermal insulation to a vessel having a cylindrical side wall and rounded end walls by rotating the vessel about its end-to-end axis and orbiting a shuttle to apply strips of composite material, formed of a layer of thermally conductive material and a layer of radiation-reflective material, to the vessel to cover the rounded end walls, while the rotation of the vessel applies a wide second bond of similar composite material to the cylindrical wall of the vessel.

6 Claims, 8 Drawing Figures P'A'TENTEDJMI 2197a SHEET 1 BF 7 FIG.|

INVENTOR. ALFRED BARTHEL BY ATTORNEY PATENTED 21975 3.708.131

INVENTOR ALFRED BARTHEL ATTORNEY PATENTEDJAH 2191a SHEET 3 BF 7 INVENTOR ALFRED BARTHEL ATTORNEY PAIENTED 2 I973 3.708.131

SHEET 0F 7 FIG. 4. M

J llll FIG.5. Z mvr-zm'ok 7 ALFRED BARTHEL ZMGAW ATTORNEY PATENTEnm 2 ma SHEEI 5 UP 7 mvsmon. ALFRED BARTHEL 20%;6 A'M FIG.6

ATTORNEY PATENTED JAN 2 I975 3. 708. 131

SHEET 7 [1F 7 INVENTOR ALFRED BARTHEL ATTORNEY METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR WRAPPING LAYERED COMPOSITE THERMAL INSULATION RELATED APPLICATIONS This is a continuation-in-part of Ser. No. 338,526, now abandoned.

This invention relates to an improved double-walled container for storing low-boiling liquefied gases and a method for applying thermal insulation to the periphery of the containers inner vessel having a cylindrical side wall and outwardly protruding convexsh'aped end walls. The invention also relates to apparatus for wrapping a composite low thermally conductive material layered and radiation-reflective material layered insulation around the periphery of such a vessel.

Double-walled containers are being increasingly used for the storage of low-boiling liquefied gases such as liquid oxygen and the like. Such containers comprise an inner liquid-storage vessel and an outer casing with an annular insulating space therebetween. This space is preferably filled with insulating material and maintained under a vacuum (very low absolute pressure) so as to minimize the heat inleak by convection and resulting loss of evaporated liquid. A particularly effective insulation is the composite layered type comprising a lowthermally conductive material layer and a radiation-reflective material layer. The layers may be physically attached to each other as exemplified by aluminum coated polyethylene terephthalate film, but are preferably separate and distinct for maximum resistance to the conduction and radiation modes of heat transfer. A highly efficient composite insulation consists of fibrous sheeting as the low conductive layer and metal foil as the radiation-reflective layer. In particular, sheeting of glass paper or web, and aluminum or copper foil in contiguous alternating sequence is a widely used composite insulation for cryogenic systems, as described more fully in US Pat. Nos. 3,007,596, 3,009,600 and 3,009,601.

These composites are conformably spirally wrapped around the inner vessel of double-walled containers under suitable tension. They are readily adaptable to the side walls of cylindrical shaped vessels but less suitable to cover the end walls of such vessels, which may be flat or convex-shaped. It is often possible to hand-wrap the compositelayered insulation by folding over the ends of the material applied to the side, taking care to insure that each radiation-reflective layer is completely separated from adjacent reflective layers by a low conductive material layer. The latter is necessary to avoid thermal short-circuiting, i.e., a direct path for heat transfer through the multiple layers from the relatively warm surrounding environment to the relativelycold cryogenic liquid. However, hand wrapping is timeconsuming, cumbersome and relatively expensive. Another disadvantage of hand wrapping is that is causes non-uniformity in the insulation thickness (number of composite layers per inch of cross-section) thus lowering the insulation efficiency. The nonuniformity problem may be overcome by cutting discs from the composite layered insulation, and laying a predetermined number of discs over the end, interleaving carefully each disc with a corresponding spirally wrapped layer. This procedure however is very time consuming and costly.

Another problem is that the preferred radiationreflecting layers such as metal foil materials are thin and must be handled with great care as they may tear because of uneven or undue tension or other reasons. Applying the same tension to the foil and to the fiber sheeting is furthermore undesirable, because the fiber sheeting is considerably weaker in tension than the foil.

l have discovered that composite multi-layered insulation may be efficiently wrapped around the periphery of spherical vessels. In this method, strips of the composite insulation are applied to the vessel as the latter revolves around an axis usually a vertical axis through the vessel neck tube, on any suitable holding means. As the vessel revolves, the strips are applied from reels which orbit around the vessel. This method affords a uniform insulation density (comprising multiple layers) on the outwardly protruding convex-shaped end walls of cylindrical vessels. However, such method is not satisfactory for the cylindrical side wall because the composite insulation layer density cannot be effectively controlled at the sides, so that a uniform insulation density over the complete periphery of the vessel is nextto-impossible. This is due 'to the fact that the radial force component of a ribbon wrapped axially (from pole to pole) around a cylindrical vessel is very small. The insulation has, therefore, a tendency to build up very fast into a rather loose texture. This becomes more pronounced the longer the cylinder is.

It is therefore an important object of the present invention to provide an improved method of and apparatus for applying composite multi-layered thermal insulation to the entire periphery of a cylindrical vessel having outwardly protruding convex-shaped end walls.

Another object is to provide such improved method and apparatus by which multiple layers of low conductive material and radaition-reflective material can be applied in alternating sequence under the same density (number layers per inch) to the entire periphery of the cylindrical vessel.

Still another object is to provide such method and apparatus by which the multiple layers can be applied under the same density without hand wrapping and in minimal time. g

A further object is to provide a double-walled cryogenic liquid storage container having an inner vessel with cylindrical side walls and outwardly protruding convex-shaped end walls, with a composite insulation of low conductive material layers and radiation-reflective material layers in alternating sequence surrounding the entire periphery of such vessel under substantially the same density.

Other objects, features and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following detailed description of preferred embodiments taken in conjunction with the attached drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a longitudinal elevation view of one side of a wrapping machine embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 2 is an isometric view of one side and the front of the FIG. 1 wrapping machine;

FIG. 3 is an isometric view of one side and the rear of a modified wrapping machine constructed in accordance with the invention;

FIG. 4 is a longitudinal elevation view of the front side of still another modification of the FIG. '1 insulation wrapping machine;

FIG. 5 is a longitudinal elevation view of a doublewalled container according to the invention, certain parts being shown in cross-section;

FIG. 6 is an isometric view of one side and the front side of still another modification of the FIG. 1 insulation wrapping machine;

FIG. 7 is a longitudinal elevation view of the front of another wrapping machine embodiment; and

FIG. 8 is a side elevation view of the wrapping machine embodiment shown in FIG. 7.

Basically the present invention represents an advantageous and unexpected combination of spiral wrapping and orbital wrapping. The composite multilayered insulation is spirally applied to the cylindrical side wall as the vessel revolves, and the orbit wrap is applied either simultaneously or separately without the spiral wrap. Whether the spiral-orbital combination will be applied simultaneously or alternatively is basically a function of achieving uniform density and thickness of multi-layered composite insulation around the entire periphery of the vessel. As previously indicated, such uniformity is necessary for the insulation to be isothermal in all part of the periphery. As used herein, the term simultaneously means that the spiral and orbital wrap are applied to the vessel periphery at the same time. The term alternatively means that in a given period either the orbit or the spiral wrap is applied alone.

According to one embodiment, apparatus is provided for wrapping a composite insulation of low thermally conductive layered material and radiation-reflective layered material around the periphery of a vessel having a cylindrical side wall and outwardly protruding convex-shaped end walls. This apparatus includes a main frame and a support carried by the frame and adapted to vertically rotate the vessel on its end-to-end axis. A rotatable arm is mounted on the frame and has at least one shaft attached to an end thereof for supporting a rotatable roll of the insulation and extending said roll toward the vertical axis of vessel support. The shaft is movable by the arm in an orbital path about the vertical axis and at an acute angle therefrom so as to wrap the composite insulation around the periphery of the rotating vessel. Tensioning means are associated with the shaft for imparting compression to the rotatable roll.

Vertically rotatable shaft means are attached to the frame and adapted to vertically support a rotatable roll of the insulation for spirally wrapping the composite insulation around only the cylindrical side wall of the rotating vessel. Tensioning means are associated with the vertically rotatable shaft means for imparting compression to the composite insulation during the spiral wrapping. Drive means are provided for controllably rotating the vessel support, the arm and the shaft.

The composite multi-layered insulation may for example be supplied as rolls of the metal-coated flexible plastic material described in US. Pat. No. 3,01 8,016 or in preformed layers of metal foil and fibrous sheet. In this event only one roll of the metal foil-fibrous sheet composite insulation is needed for attachment to a shaft on the end of the orbiting arm, and one roll is needed for attachment to the vertically rotatable shaft for spiral wrapping around the vessel.

Usually, however, it will be preferable to wrap the composite insulation simultaneously with layers of insulation fed from opposite ends of the rotatable arm. This would in turn require two shafts, one near each end of the rotatable arm, when the insulation is of the preferred composite type mentioned above. When the insulation is of the preferred metal foil-fibrous sheeting layer type and is not supplied in composite form, four rolls would be preferably required, two rolls adjacently positioned near each of the opposed ends of the rotatable arm. Each pair of rolls are adjacently positioned so that composites of fibrous sheeting underlayer and metal foil overlayer are simultaneously applied from top to bottom on opposite sides of the vertically rotatable vessel in intersecting angles. Similarly when the preferred metal foil-fibrous sheeting layer type of insulation is not supplied in the composite form, two vertically rotatable shafts are needed to support rotatable rolls of the fibrous sheeting and the metal foil for spiral wrapping the composite insulation around the cylindrical side wall of the rotating vessel.

According to another embodiment of the invention, a pair of rotatable arms is provided and mounted for rotation on the main frame. A pair of rotatable rolls are mounted near each end of each of these arms. Each pair of rolls are positioned inwardly toward the vertical axis of the vessel support so that they are movable in an orbitable path about the vessel as the arms rotate. This path may be described by a plane intersecting the vertical axis of the vessel support at an acute orbit angle therefrom of between 8 and 30.

Means are also provided for adjustably changing the orbitable path of the rolls in increments within the orbit angle of 8 and 30. This is preferably achieved by pivotally mounting the rotatable arms on the main frame so that by pivotally adjusting the arms, the rolls which are mounted thereon will be caused to move with the arms in any desired orbital path within an orbital angle of 8 and 30 from the vertical axis of the vessel support.

Referring now to FIGS. 1 and 2, the vessel 10 to be wrapped is supportably held by a vertically aligned shaft 11 through a suitable collar 12 which is connected to the neck tube 13 of the vessel. Shaft 11 in turn is connected to a suitable drive 14 so as to rotate the vessel about its vertical end-to-end axis. The drive may consist of any type of motor and speed reducing gears necessary to obtain the desired rotating speed of the container. The vessel 10 to which the composite insulation is applied may, for example, be the inner liquefied gas holding vessel of a double-walled container. It has cylindrical side wall 10a and outwardly protruding convex-shaped end walls 10b. The rotating or driving means for the vessel 10 are supported by a suitable frame 15 which in turn is secured to base 16.

vention in its broadest aspects, therefore does not require a pair of rolls at opposite ends of the motion arm since a pair of rolls at but one end will often suffice. Also, as aforementioned, when utilizing a preformed composite insulation, e.g., the metal-coated flexible plastic material disclosed in US. Pat. No. 3,018,016 issued Jan. 23, 1962 to MP. l-lnilicka, .lr., the invention may be practiced with but one roll at one end of motion arm 21.

Since it is usually desirable to utilize rolls at opposite ends of motion arm 21 in the wrapping of containers having a large surface area, provision for additional rolls at the opposite end of motion arm 21 should preferably be made. Thus third and fourth rolls 18 and 20 for feeding fibrous sheeting and metal foil respectively are attached to motion arm 21 through respective shafts 23 and 25 so as to be orbitable, as they rotate, about the vertically rotatable vessel 10. First roll 17 for feeding fibrous sheeting and third roll 19 for feeding metal foil are adjacently positioned near the opposite end of motion arm 21. The positioning is such that composite layers of fibrous sheeting underlayer and metal foil overlayer are simultaneously applied on opposite sides of the rotating vessel. in a manner similar to vessel rotating means 14, motion arm 21 carrying rolls 17-20 is driven through shaft 26 by drive means 27 which, for example, may consist of a suitable motor and speed reducing means.

Vertical shafts 3S and 36 are supported by frame base 16 and in turn support fibrous sheeting roll 37 and metal foil roll 38, respectively, free to rotate around the shafts. The ends of rolls 37 and 38 are each positioned invertical alignment with the respective ends of the vessels cylindrical wall a. In order to control the lateral densityof the insulation, suitable means of braking the rolls 37 and 38 are provided on the vertical shafts. This is achieved, as shown in P16. 1 by braking discs 40 and 41 pressing against the roll cores 42 and 43. The correct amount of pressure is exerted by suitable springs 44 and 45, compressed by suitable collar rings 46 and 47 equipped with a setscrew for adjustment. The same type of collar rings 48 and 49 positioned beneath roll cores 42 and 43 respectively, may be used to keep the rolls in the desired horizontal alignment with cylindrical side wall 10a. Instead of springs, other means may be used to provide the necessary tension of the composite insulation layer 39, as for example magnetic or pneumatic brakes.

It has been discovered that the insulating efficiency of vessels wrapped by the instant apparatus varies in accordance with the differences in widths of the two strips. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the fibrous sheeting width ispreferablysignificantly greater than that of the metal foil. This is to minimize the danger of the metal foil touching the foil beneath it. Shouldthis occur, heat transfer due to solid conduction takes place. lnthe preferred form of the insulation, the fibrous sheet is preferably only about one-fourth inch wider than the metal foil. This decreases the accumulation of void spaces, insofar as metal foil is concerned, in the space around the vessel neck tube. Such void spaces would represent a loss of radiation barriers thusincreasing the heat leak to the vessel. 1

To illustrate by way of example the differences in heat leak resulting from varying width differences between the aluminum foil and the glass fiber, when a inch the thermal conductivity becomes 6.8 X 10* BTU/hr./sq.ft., F./ft. Thus, the smallest width difference insofar as possible will result in the smallest heat leak to the inner vessel. Both values represent a striking improvement over a conventional straight vacuum-polished wall insulating system which has a thermal conductivity of 78 X 10'.

As previously discussed, in operation the fibrous sheeting strip is laid over the metal foil strip by the orbiting arm 21 so that both can be applied to the vessel simultaneously, the fibrous :sheeting being positioned in relation to the metal foil in a manner such that it will always lie beneath the foil when applied to the vessel. in the same manner the fibrous sheeting is laid over" the metal foil from rolls 37 and 38 aligned with the ends of the vessel cylindrical wall 10a. The ends of the composite strips and sheets are then secured to the vessel 10 by suitable means such as cellophane-tape or glue. As the vessel 10 rotates about its vertical axis, arm 21 rotates or orbits the rolls 17-20 about the vessel 10. As the arm 21 rotates, the rolls 17-20 also rotate about their own axes thus applying the composite strips of metal foil 14a and fibrous sheeting 14b tothe container surface. The resulting composite insulation from orbiting arm 21 will thus consist of cries-crossing composite strips. It should be noted that since the fibrous strip 14b is being carried by the metal foil 114a, there will be substantially no tension in the former during application to the vessel, the tension in the fiber needed for unrolling from the reel being negligible. For this reason there will be substantially no tension in a material that is inherently weak.

In order to assure the proper degree of tightness on which the insulation efficiently depends, a predetermined amount of tension must be applied to the metal foil strip 14a as it is wound onto the vessel from the reel-mounted metal foil rolls 19 and 20. This tension is, for example, provided by first andsecond springs 30 and 31, respectively, pressing against the reels carrying first and second metal foil rolls 19 and 20. The desired spring compression in a direction parallel to the axis of roll rotation is provided by first and second set collars 28 and 29, respectively. Their setting is, for example,

arbitrarily determined through experimentation. This I mechanical braking action may also be provided by other means such as an electromagnetic device, as will be understood by those skilled in the art. T111515, m essence, the same. procedure as described earlier with respect to the spirally wrapped composite insulation steip. In addition,the particular form of the vessel induces erratic inertial jerks in the strip reels. As in the case of the mechanical brake, the optimum speed must be arbitrarily determined through experimentation.

Having once determined the speed of the orbiting arm, the speed of the vessel is synchronized in a certain relationship to the speed of the arm 21. This relationship depends upon the angle between the plane of the orbiting rolls and the vertical axis of the vessel, and the angle between the wrapping strip and the vertical axis of the vessel. If these factors are not properly determined, the insulation strips form excessive wrinkles in those areas where there is a transition from one surface to another. These wrinkles will pile up" thus forming a loose insulation mat with improper density.

For cylindrical vessels the angle that the plane of the orbiting reels makes with the vertical axis of the vessel is dependent upon the length of the vessel, the diameter of the vessel neck tube and the width of the strip. The relationship may be expressed mathematically as follows:

tan 0=(D,,+.w)/L (1) wherein D, diameter of the vessel neck tube, L length of the vessel, and w width of the metal foil strip.

The angle 0 that the applied composite wrapping strip makes with the vertical axis of the vessel results from the change of one surface to another and is dependent upon the diameter of the vessel, the diameter of the vessel neck tube, and the width of the strip. Expressed mathematically:

sin =(D,,+w)/D (2) wherein D, diameter of the vessel, D,, diameter of the vessel neck tube, and w l width of the metal foil strip.

For a cylindrical vessel during the period of time in which the orbiting arm winds the foil and fibrous strips onto one of the vessels convex-shaped end walls, the vessel must rotate through a central angle 0:, whose magnitude in degrees is expressed by the mathematical formula:

oz=[L (tantan 0)X 3601/D 3 in which L length of the vessel, D, diameter of the vessel, and the angles (1: and 0 are the wrapping and orbiting angles respectively. This displacement is necessary to insure that the orbitally wrapped insulation ribbons are wound adjacent to each other insuring thus a continuous coverage of the container with insulation and minimizing useless insulation pile-up.

For any given optimum orbital angle and speed relationship, as the insulation thickness increases, the uninsulated gap between the neck tube and the nearest adjacent layers of insulation increases. This could cause a substantial drop in the insulation efficiency of the system if it were allowed to remain uninsulated. This problem has been overcome by a later embodiment of the invention as will be explained with reference to FIGS. 6 and 8.

FIG. 6 illustrates a modification to the wrapping machine embodiment shown in FIG. 2, for enabling the adjustment of the orbital angle 0. This may be accomplished by providing means for pivoting the shaft 26 and the drive 27 which are connected to motion arm 21. The drive unit 27 may, as shown, be mounted on the rear end of a U-shaped frame 60 which is pivotally connected to the vertical upright frame members a and 15b. One end of a cable 62 may be fastened to the rear end of U-shaped frame 60, with its other end conthe reel-mounted rolls 17-20 are driven separately.

Separate drive means for vertically oriented fibrous sheet roll 37 and metal foil roll 38 are not necessary because the composite insulation 39 is drawn from the rolls onto the cylindrical side wall 10a by the vertically rotating vessel 10. It is also possible to drive the vessel and all insulation layer rolls from the same power source as, for example, depicted in the FIG. 3 embodiment. Corresponding elements have been identified by the same numbers as in FIGS. 1 and 2 for purposes of clarity. Referring now to FIG. 3, motion arm shaft 26 is driven by motor drive 50 through V-belt 51 and variable speed pulley 52. Vessel 10 is likewise driven by motor drive 50 through pulley 52, V-belt 53, variable pulley 54 V-belt 55 and sheave 56, the latter being connected to vessel 10 through shaft 11. In this manner, both the rolls 17-20 and vessel 10 can be driven from the same power source, each having different rotational speeds.

It will be apparent from the foregoing description that one aspect of this invention relates to a method for applying thermal insulation to the periphery of a vessel having a cylindrical side wall and outwardly protruding convex-shaped end walls. The vessel is rotated on its end-to-end axis and a fil'SiCOlTlPOSitC strip formed of a low thermally conductive material layer and a radiation-reflective material layer is orbitally wrapped around the vessel periphery from one end to the other end of the rotating vessel. This wrapping is at acute angle to the vessel end-to-end axis so as to provide an overlap between adjacent edges of adjacent orbit strips and cover the entire vessel periphery. A second composite of a low thermally conductive material layer and a radiation-reflective material layer is spirally wrapped around only the cylindrical side wall of the rotating vessel so that a layer is contiguously associated with the opposite type layer of the first composite strip. That is, either a low thermally conductive material layer of the first composite strip is contiguous with a radiationreflective layer of the second composite, or a low thermally conductive material layer of the latter is contiguously positioned to a radiation-reflective layer of the first composite strip.

FIG. 4 illustrates another apparatus embodiment of the invention that is particularly advantageous for wrapping larger size vessels, for example, those having a liquid capacity on the order of 10,000 liters. In this embodiment the rotating arm- 21 of FIGS. l-3 is replaced by the circular track 40, preferably constructed of light weight aluminum. This apparatus eliminates the need for fabricating large floor foundations necessary to support the overhanging and cantilevered supports of FIGS. l-3 for the vessel and the rotating arm of the rolls. In this respect it is to be noted that the track 40 is supported by a plurality of suspension ties 61 which in turn are connected to the portable overhead member 62 thus yielding greater flexibility to the system. It should be understood that the suspension ties may be adjusted so as to properly position the track 40 to, yield the desired angles and q with respect to the axis of the vessel. Track 40 contains a suitable trolley 63 which may be driven by a suitable electric motor (not shown). Rolls 17 and 19 are in turn connected to the trolley 63 so as to be capable of applying the composite insulation layer 64 as the vessel is rotated by drive 14 and the trolley is driven around track 40 by the electric motor. Again vertical rotatable shaft means have not been illustrated in the interest of simplicity.

Such means could be identical to shafts 35 and 36 as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2.

FIG. 5 illustrates a novel double-walled liquefied gas container 80 which forms another embodiment of this invention, as previously broadly described. The inner vessel 81 contains a low-boiling liquefied gas as for example liquid oxygen, nitrogen, helium and the like. Vessel 81 having a cylindrical side wall and outwardly protruding convex-shaped end walls is surrounded by an outer casing 82 with an annular evacuable space 83 therebetween. During storage of low boiling liquefied gases, space 83 is maintained at a pressure below about l00microns and preferably below microns. Inner vessel 81 is supported and stabilized by suitable means as, for example, bottom tube 84 and top neck tube 85, and various conduits and valving for introduction and discharge of fluid may be employed, as will be understood by those skilled in the art. These elements have not been shown in the interest of simplicity and do not constitute parts of the invention. Suitable piping and valving is, for example, illustrated and described in U.S. Pat. No. 2,968,163 to J. H. Beckman. Alternatively top neck tube 85 may be closed by removable plug 85a preferably filled with thermal insulation material as described more completely in U.S. Pat. No. 3,207,354 to R. P. Skinner et al.

At least two composite strips 86 and 87 of fibrous sheeting underlayer 14b and metal foil 14a extend longitudinally around the periphery of the inner vessel 81 in intersecting directions. Although one composite strip is shown for purposes of simplicity, it is to be un derstood that strips 86 and 87 are preferably of sufficient length to substantially fill the evacuable annular space 83 between the inner vessel 81 and outer casing 82.

The composite insulation strips 86 and .87, are preferably wrapped around inner vessel by the previously described method wherein at least two composite strips of fibrous sheeting underlayer and metal foil are provided'on opposite sides of the vessel. One end of each composite strip is secured to the vessel surface and the vessel is vertically rotated, Simultaneously, the strips are orbited around the perimeter of the rotating vessel and contiguously delivered to the vessel from the top tothe bottom thereof in intersecting angles, one composite strip crossing over the other. Alternatively, a series ofshorter strips may be employed with gaps therebetween as applied on the vessel surface; In this The composite criss-cross insulation is preferably applied to inner vessel 81 by the wrapping apparatus of the present invention, as exemplified by the machines shown in FIGS. 1-4 and 6-8. It will be appreciated,

however, that hand wrapping may be alternatively employed. I

Simultaneously or alternately the second composite 88 of fibrous sheeting and metal foil is spirally wound around'only the cylindrical side wall of the inner vessel 81 with a component layer contiguously associated with the opposite-type layer 14a or 14b of the first composite strips 86 and 87.

The fibrous sheeting may, for example, comprise uncompressible paper-type material or compressible mat-type material such as glass fiber, preferably having fiber diameters of less than 50) microns. Also, such fibrous materials preferably have a fiber orientation substantially perpendicular to the direction of. heat flow across the insulation space. The metal foil may, for example, be aluminum, copper, tin,silver, gold or cadmium, aluminum being preferred. Metal foil sheets having a thickness of between about 0.2 millimeters and 0.002 millimeters are preferred.

The ratio of the quantity of orbitally applied insulation to the quantity of spirally applied insulation, when preformed simultaneously, is nearly a constant 2:]. In general, for the maximum insulation efficiency, the width of the strip for the orbital wrap is first chosen on the basis of the vessel geometry. Such things as curvature at the ends, and the diameter of the vessel and the vessel neck tube are considered. In general, the narrower the strip, the faster the build up at the ends, and therefore a greater amount of spiralis needed.

To illustrate the different types of insulation, a 500- liter vessel was wrapped with the novel combination insulation. The vessel had a 38-inch OD. and a height of 36 inches. The width of the vacuum space at the sides was about equal to the width at the bottom Two 3-inch wide aluminum ribbons were chosen for the orbital wrap. For the spiral wrap the aluminum foil was 23% inches. The orbital and spiral wraps were applied simultaneously, two orbital wraps to one spiral wrap.

As another illustration a 3 l-liter vessel having an CD. of 14 inches and a height. of 15 inches was wrapped with the combinationinsulation. The vacuum space at the side had a width of 1% inches, while at the bottom it was 1% inches. The width of the aluminum ribbon for the orbital wrap was 2% inches. In this case the wraps had to be alternated because the spiral wrap at the prevailing constant rate in simultaneous applications with the orbital wrap was not enough to fill the vacuum space at the sides. I

The wrapping procedure was as follows:

1. The vessel was wrapped for 60. revolutions of the orbit arm with the insulation from both the orbit rolls and the spiral rolls being applied simultaneously. t

2. After 60 revolutions of the orbit arm, the glass and aluminum foil strips being applied from the orbit arm were detached from the'vessel. The vessel was then.

rotated for 10 revolutions with the spiral rolls attached only.

The two steps were repeated fourtim'es. This provided 48 layers applied by orbital wrapping and 64, by spiral. 3

may be controllably driven by a motor 111 and rotatable support bushing 112. A pair of motion arms 210a and 210b are rotatably mounted on a channel-shaped orbital mechanism support frame 290 which in turn is pivotally attached to the sides of the main frame at 300. A pair of rolls is preferably rotatably mounted on and extend from each arm by means of respective rotatable shafts journalled in bearings near the ends of each motion arm. Each pair of rolls is required to feed the components of the composite insulation to the inner vessel 100 being wrapped. If the insulation is available prior to wrapping operation in a preformed composite strip, only one roll rotatably mounted near each end of the motion arms 210a, 21% would be required. The rolls extend from the motion arms inwardly toward the vertical axis of the container support 110 so as to be orbital about the vessel 100 when the motion arms 210a, 210b are rotated. As shown in FIG. 8, the motion arms 210a, 21% are controllably rotated by motor 270 through shaft 260 and slip clutch 280 which are supportably carried on the midportion of the channel-shaped support frame 290 opposite the pivotal end. The pivot is preferably in lateral alignment with the vertical axis of rotatable support 110 as shown in FIG. 8. The end of the cross bar member opposite the pivotal end is held by a cable 310 which passes over pulleys 311 and 312 to theopposite side of the main frame 150 where it is attached to a hand cranking winch unit 313 (FIG. 7) such that the cross bar member 290 can be adjustably raised and lowered about pivot point 300. The included orbit angle formed between the vertical axis through the rotatable support and the planar orbital path of the rolls can be adjusted by means of the winch unit 313 in variable increments within 8 and 30.

As previously mentioned, care must be taken in applying tension to the insulation during wrapping in order to obtain good insulation efficiency and yet prevent tearing. It has been found that the rotation of the feed rolls about the container should begin slowly and then be increased in speed gradually until the desired speed is reached. There should be an absence of' sudden jerking of the insulation during wrapping. This is avoided by the use of the slip clutch 280.

In order to insulate the gap normally formed between the neck tube of the vessel and the wrapped insulation as the insulation thickness increases, the offset distance D between the edge of the orbital wrapped ribbon and the centerline of the rotatable support 110 may be maintained constant while reducing the orbit angle 0 by lifting the frame 290. Such adjustment will enable the container to be wrapped from top to bottom or, more accurately, from pole to pole with only a very small uninsulated gap around the neck tube. As in the FIG. 1 embodiment, a predetermined amount of tension may be applied to the rolls feeding the metal foil by means of compression springs 320 and collars 321.

It'should be noted that the angles 0 and d: and the ratio of the rotating speeds of the rolls and the vessel are determined by the same mathematical relationship previously described.

The advantages of several aspects of this invention were demonstrated in a series of production runs for manufacturing cylindrical shaped double-walled liquid nitrogen containers of lO-liter capacity. These particular small containers were to be used in widely scattered laboratories and required a relatively low evaporation rate of less than 0.6 lbs. nitrogen per day from a total capacity of 17.8 lbs. liquid nitrogen. In the first production lot comprising 81 containers, glass fiber sheetingaluminum foil composite layered insulation was orbitally wrapped around the inner vessel. After assembly with the outer casing and evacuation of the intervening space, these containers were found to have an average evaporation rate of 0.55 lbs. nitrogen per day. The glass fiber sheeting was 2% inches wide and the aluminum foil 1% inches wide.

After discovery of the present invention, apparatus similar to that depicted in FIG. 8 was constructed and used to wrap the same type of glass fiber sheeting-aluminum foil composite insulation around a production lot of sixty-three lO-liter nitrogen vessels. The specifi sequence was as follows:

One 11-inch wide aluminum foil roll 38, and one 1 ll-inch wide glass fiber sheeting roll 37, were mounted on the spiral wrapping attachment 330. The two rolls were aligned with respect to each other and the composite layer 39, attached to the cylindrical side wall of vessel with adhesive tape midway between the protruding convex-shaped top and bottom ends. Both sets of composite insulation ribbons 14a and-14b from orbiting rolls 17 and 19 mounted at the end of the motion arm 210b, and ribbons 14a and 14b from orbiting rolls l8 and 20 mounted at the end of the motion arm 210a, were attached respectively to the lower and upper end of the vessel 100 with adhesive tape. The orbit angle 0 was set at l9 at the beginning of the wrap.

As the insulation thickness increased during the wrap, the angle 0 was gradually decreased to l4% toward the end of the wrapin order to maintain the distance D constant, i.e., to have zero gap between the edge of the orbitally wrapped ribbons and the neck tube of vessel 100. The latter was wrapped with revolutions of the orbital arm at a speed of 25 RPM. This provided twenty-seven layers of composite insulation applied by orbital wrapping. While vessel 100 was rotating at an average speed of 3 RPM, 14 layers of spirally wrapped composite insulation 39 were wrapped simultaneously with the orbital wrap. The total number of layers was 41. The thickness of the insulation mat around the container was three-fourth inch, providing an average density of 55 layers per inch.

The desired density was maintained by the tension with which the insulation web 39 was wrapped. This tension was provided by the torque established by the magnetic brake 331. No other torque was necessary for the fibrous sheet roll 37 beyond the residual drag of the magnetic brake 332. In this embodiment the shafts were rotating with the rolls.

After assembly with the outer casing and evacuation of the intervening space, these containers were found to have an average evaporation rate of 0.48 lbs. nitrogen per day. Since about one-half of the ambient heat inleak is through the neck tube and the other half through the evacuated annular insulation space, this represents an improvement of greater than 20 percent for the layered insulation composite by practicing the present invention.

The advantages of this invention were further demonstrated in the manufacture and testing of three cylindrical shaped double-walled liquid helium containers each with a 100 -liter capacity. In view of far greater value of helium than nitrogen, it is essential to keep the evaporation rate at a minimum. The inner vessel of the first container was spirally wrapped around the cylindrical side walls with glass fiber sheeting-aluminum foil insulation along with intervening copper conductive shields. The ends were hand-folded and discs individually hand-positioned over the ends and each disc carefully interleaved with each spirally wrapped cylindrical layer. A period of 40 man-hours was required to wrap this vessel and the evaporation rate of the assembled containers was 1.2 percent of the helium content per day.

A second liquid helium container of the same size was assembled using the same composite insulation but wrapped in the previously described orbital manner. The wrapping time was only 8-10 man-hours but the containers evaporation rate of 2 percent helium content per day was considered prohibitively high for commercial use.

A third liquid helium container of the same size as the first two containers was then constructed according to the principles of this invention using the same glass fiber sheeting-aluminum foil composite insulation in the following sequence:

Using apparatus similar to that illustrated in FIGS. 7 and 8, one 23%-inch wide aluminum foil roll 38 and one 24-inch wide glass fibrous paper sheeting roll 37 were mounted on the spiral wrapping attachment 330. Orbiting rolls 17 and 18 of 3'r-inch wide glass fibrous paper ribbons were mounted at opposite ends of a single motion arm such as 210a, and orbiting rolls 19 and 20. of 3-inch wide aluminum foil ribbons were also mounted at opposite ends of the same motion arm. The wrapping operations were very similar to the previously described example.

The orbit angle was 13 at the beginning of the wrapping operation and 9 at the end of the wrap. These considerably smaller orbit angles were due to the fact that the length/diameter ratio of the helium vessel was much larger than the L/D value of the small liter nitrogen vessel. The geometry of this helium vessel was similar to vessel 100 depicted in FIG. 7. The vessel was wrapped with 440 revolutions of the orbiting arm at a speed of 6 RPM, providing 88 layers of composite insulation applied by orbital wrapping. While the vessel was rotating on its vertical axis at an average speed of 0.6'RPM, forty-four layers of spirally wrapped composite insulation 39 were applied simultaneously with the orbital wrap. A total of 132 composite insulation layers were applied to the vessel walls with a thickness of l-7/l6 inches. The desired density of 90 layers per inch of this particular type of layered composite insulation was achieved by the torque action of magnetic brake 331. The assembles third container provided a helium evaporation rate of only 1.05 percent of the content per day, or an improvement in thermal insulating efficiency of over 20 percent as compared to the first two containers. Moreover, this improvement was achieved with 12-16 man-hours wrapping time-less than one-half the time required to spirally wrap and disc insulate the first container. 1

Although preferred embodiments of the invention have been described in detail, it is to be understood that modifications and variations may be effected without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

What is claimed is: a

l. A method for applying thermal insulation to the periphery of a vessel having a cylindrical side wall and outwardly protruding convex-shaped end walls, comprising the steps of rotating such vessel on its end-toend axis and orbitally wrapping a first composite strip formed of a low thermally conductive material layer and a radiation-reflective material layer around the vessel periphery from one end to the other end of the rotating vessel and at acute angle to the vessel end-toend axis so as to provide an overlap between adjacent edges of adjacent orbits and cover the entire vessel periphery; and spirally wrapping a second composite of a low thermally conductive material layer and a radiation-reflective material layer around only the cylindrical side wall of the rotating vessel so that a layer is contiguously associated with the opposite type layer of said first composite strip.

2. A method according to claim 1 in which said first composite strip and said second composite are respectively simultaneously orbitally wrapped and spirally wrapped around the rotating vessel.

3. A method according to claim 1 in which said first composite strip and said second composite are respectively alternately orbitally wrapped and spirally wrapped around the rotating vessel. 1

4. A method according to claim 1 in which glass fibrous sheeting comprises said low conductive material layer of both said first composite strip and said second composite, metal foil comprises said radiationreflective material layer of both said first composite strip and said second composite, and said glass fibrous sheeting is wider than said metal foil and positioned so as to extend outwardly beyond and beneath both longitudinal edges of said metal foil of such first strip and second composite.

5. Apparatus for wrapping a composite insulation 0 low thermally conductive layeredmaterial and radiation-reflective layered material around the periphery of a vessel having a cylindrical side wall and outwardly protruding convex-shaped end walls comprising a main frame; a support carried by said frame and adaptedto vertically rotate said vessel on its endto-end axis; a rotatable arm mounted on said frame having two shafts attached to each end thereof for both mounting separate rolls of said low thermally conductive material and said radiation-reflective material at each end and extending said rolls towards the'vertical axis of vessel support, said shafts being movable by said arm in an orbital path about said vertical axis and at an acute angle therefrom so as to simultaneously wrap said composite insulation around the periphery of the rotatingvessel from each end of said arm; tensioning means associated LII 6. The method of applying wrapping to a vessel including wrapping a layer of material around the vessel circumferentially to cover substantially the entire length of said vessel and simultaneously wrapping another layer of material in the form of successive convolutions of material extending generally lengthwise of the vessel and around the ends of the vessel.

I I! I l 

1. A method for applying thermal insulation to the periphery of a vessel having a cylindrical side wall and outwardly protruding convex-shaped end walls, comprising the steps of rotating such vessel on its end-to-end axis and orbitally wrapping a first composite strip formed of a low thermally conductive material layer and a radiation-reflective material layer around the vessel periphery from one end to the other end of the rotating vessel and at acute angle to the vessel end-to-end axis so as to provide an overlap between adjacent edges of adjacent orbits and cover the entire vessel periphery; and spirally wrapping a second composite of a low thermally conductive material layer and a radiation-reflective material layer around only the cylindrical side wall of the rotating vessel so that a layer is contiguously associated with the opposite type layer of said first composite strip.
 2. A method according to claim 1 in which said first composite strip and said second composite are respectively simultaneously orbitally wrapped and spirally wrapped around the rotating vessel.
 3. A method according to claim 1 in which said first composite strip and said second composite are respectively alternately orbitally wrapped And spirally wrapped around the rotating vessel.
 4. A method according to claim 1 in which glass fibrous sheeting comprises said low conductive material layer of both said first composite strip and said second composite, metal foil comprises said radiation-reflective material layer of both said first composite strip and said second composite, and said glass fibrous sheeting is wider than said metal foil and positioned so as to extend outwardly beyond and beneath both longitudinal edges of said metal foil of such first strip and second composite.
 5. Apparatus for wrapping a composite insulation of low thermally conductive layered material and radiation-reflective layered material around the periphery of a vessel having a cylindrical side wall and outwardly protruding convex-shaped end walls comprising a main frame; a support carried by said frame and adapted to vertically rotate said vessel on its end-to-end axis; a rotatable arm mounted on said frame having two shafts attached to each end thereof for both mounting separate rolls of said low thermally conductive material and said radiation-reflective material at each end and extending said rolls towards the vertical axis of vessel support, said shafts being movable by said arm in an orbital path about said vertical axis and at an acute angle therefrom so as to simultaneously wrap said composite insulation around the periphery of the rotating vessel from each end of said arm; tensioning means associated with said two shafts at each arm end for imparting compression to the composite insulation during the orbital wrapping; two separate vertically rotatable shaft means attached to said frame and adapted to vertically support separate rotatable rolls of said low thermally conductive material and said radiation-reflective material for spirally wrapping said composite insulation around only the cylindrical side wall of the rotating vessel; tensioning means associated with said vertically rotatable shaft means for imparting compression to the composite insulation during said spiral wrapping; and a single drive means for controllably rotating the vessel support and said arm.
 6. The method of applying wrapping to a vessel including wrapping a layer of material around the vessel circumferentially to cover substantially the entire length of said vessel and simultaneously wrapping another layer of material in the form of successive convolutions of material extending generally lengthwise of the vessel and around the ends of the vessel. 